A member of a committee to help select St. Paul’s next police chief resigned Tuesday after the Pioneer Press confronted him about his own brushes with the law, including arrests on suspicion of soliciting a prostitute and of cheating at gambling.

Bobby Kasper, 51, of Forest Lake, the newly elected president of the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation, wasn’t convicted in either incident and pleaded with the Pioneer Press not to report on them, emphasizing he was apologizing to Mayor Chris Coleman and would resign from the committee.

“If it’s gonna be put in the paper, I’ll get off,” Kasper said. “I don’t want to give the mayor a black eye.”

Kasper was one of 23 prominent community members — from business groups to social service agencies — named by the city council and Coleman to an advisory committee to vet candidates seeking to replace St. Paul Police Chief John Harrington and make nonbinding recommendations to Coleman.

In December, Harrington announced he wouldn’t seek another term.

City leaders said they were unaware of Kasper’s past and were caught off-guard Tuesday. A spokesman said Coleman was “shocked,” and city council President Kathy Lantry said she was “surprised and disappointed.”

Why the solicitation charge, which includes videotape evidence of Kasper paying an undercover cop $80 for sex, was dismissed remains murky.

St. Paul police asked the city attorney’s office to drop the misdemeanor charge of engaging in prostitution, said Sgt. Paul Schnell, police spokesman.

“All I can indicate is there was an investigative rationale for requesting dismissal of the case,” he said. Schnell would not comment further.

One year ago today, St. Paul police officers netted Kasper in an undercover “john sweep” at a hotel in the department’s Western District. Police reports give the following account of the case:

Vice officers had posted an ad on craigslist.org and backpage.com stating, “Blond’s Always Have More Fun … Check it out!!!” and included a phone number.

An undercover female cop got a call from a man who identified himself as “Bobby.” He agreed to pay $80 for a half-hour. “He said he was from the East Coast and was Italian,” a report said. “He said he was sort of like an Italian mob type. He said he was on his way to see me.”

A decoy officer directed the man — later identified as Kasper, who is originally from New York — to a hotel, and he followed her to a room, which was wired with audio and video.

“He asked me if he looked like a mob boss,” the undercover officer wrote in her report. Kasper showed the officer $80 and put it on the bathroom counter. “He said he wasn’t a weirdo,” the report continued. “He walked toward me and hugged me. He said he was nervous.”

The officer gave a signal, and an arrest team entered the room, nabbing Kasper at 11 a.m. He was booked and bailed himself out. A month later, the charge was dismissed.

Kasper, who is not married, declined to discuss the bust.

“I wasn’t convicted,” he said. “Just leave it at that.”

In 2007, Kasper was arrested at Canterbury Park in Shakopee after allegedly getting caught on camera “bet capping” — placing a bet after looking at his cards in a game where that’s not allowed — resulting in his winning a $175 pot.

Kasper pleaded guilty to cheating at gambling, a gross misdemeanor, but the charge was dismissed after he met certain conditions, including six months’ probation and steering clear of the park for six months, court records show.

“It was a $5 bet,” Kasper said. “It was an honest mistake.”

Harrington, Lantry, Coleman, and City Attorney John Choi, who co-chairs the committee, all said it was appropriate for Kasper to resign.

In an effort to include representatives of so many interests, city leaders said they didn’t vet members of the police committee. “Bobby wasn’t put on the committee,” Lantry explained. “The president of the Regional Labor Federation was.” She said it’s unlikely he’ll be replaced.

The Pioneer Press searched Minnesota court records for the names of the 22 other members of the committee. Four of the names were too common to determine whether the committee members had criminal histories. None of the other members appears to have faced criminal charges.

Known for his boisterous personality and commitment to unions, Kasper, a former laborer who came up through unions in New York, said that as a recovering substance abuser, he’s made plenty of mistakes.

“I been sober about 18 years,” he said. “I’ve done fivefold good things for each bad thing. … I wouldn’t have got elected (to the Labor Federation) if people didn’t think I believe in what I’m doing. You put that (the arrests) in the paper, I’m finished. How about I get off the committee and you don’t run anything?”

Dave Orrick reports on state government and politics from the Pioneer Press' Capitol Bureau. When the occasion demands, he's been known to cover topics ranging from hunting to golf. He lives in St. Paul with his wife and son.

Mara Gottfried has been a Pioneer Press reporter since 2001, mostly covering public safety. Gottfried lived in St. Paul as a young child and returned to the Twin Cities after graduating from the University of Maryland. You can reach her at 651-228-5262.

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